1. Technical Field
The present invention extends the process in my previous patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,289 to the additional case of gluing a non-metallic horseshoe having a member(s) such as a rim that extends up the sidewall of the hoof for gluing thereto.
2. Related Art
A side extension such as a rim, or tabs, extending up the sidewall of the hoof is common with glue-on horseshoes. The leading commercially available glue-on horseshoe in the U.S. at present by Mustad, Inc. (patent pending) has side such tabs, as does the commercial version of Tovim's U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,762. For bonding the tabs to the sidewall, both use a cyanoacrylate adhesive, which is not gap-filling.
My referenced earlier patent titled "Process for Gluing to a Horse's Hoof" discloses a process for producing gap-filling durable bonds. That process involves heating both the hoof and an attachable object (e.g. shoe) to a temperature of approximately 275.degree. F. prior to bonding with a gap-filing paste-type urethane adhesive having a hardness in excess of about 50 Shore D. At a temperature of 275.degree. F. a polyurethane horseshoe is highly flexible so that a standard shape can be readily fit to individual hoof contours, particularly when used with a gap-filling adhesive. A high temperature like 275.degree. F. also reduces the cure time for the adhesive and promotes sterilization of the hoof.
However my earlier patent did not specifically address gluing a shoe part to a hoof sidewall. Gluing to a sidewall presents special problems, principally because bonds there can be subjected to very high tensile forces when a horse pivots, and bonds are usually weakest in tension. In addition, for horses with thin hoof sidewalls, such as many thoroughbreds have, when gluing side extensions at 275.degree. F., the high heat can produce discomfort for the horse.